Suit Up

No one should be forced to wear the Bunny Suit.

----------------

Echo Proximity Thunder

Life Choices

Priorities and Dedication.

Will result in a long life, lead on the bleeding edge.

-----------------------------

An Echo Proximity Collage

Astronaut Movie

In space no one can hear you scream...

or moan...

--------------------------

An Echo Proximity Collage

Corporation Runs for Congress

The Murray Hill Corporation is taking their newly established Constitutional Rights one logical step forward and eliminating the middle man--Murray Hill Inc is running for Congress as Joke. At least I hope it is a joke. Tell me it is a joke, please!

And do we have to refer to this as the "Citizens United" case from now on? Or the "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission" case? That is too long, and "Citizens United Ruling" doesn't set the right tone. How about we call it the "Dread Corp Ruling"?

Murray Hill Link: http://www.murrayhillweb.com/new_day/index.html

The Corporate Candidate have a press release and a video which must be seen.

“Until now,” Murray Hill Inc. said in a statement, “corporate interests had to rely on campaign contributions and influence peddling to achieve their goals in Washington. But thanks to an enlightened Supreme Court, now we can eliminate the middle-man and run for office ourselves.”
Murray Hill Inc. is believed to be the first “corporate person” to exercise its constitutional right to run for office. As Supreme Court observer Lyle Denniston wrote in his SCOTUSblog, “If anything, the decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission conferred new dignity on corporate “persons,” treating them — under the First Amendment free-speech clause — as the equal of human beings.”
Murray Hill Inc. agrees. “The strength of America,” Murray Hill Inc. says, “is in the boardrooms, country clubs and Lear jets of America’s great corporations. We’re saying to Wal-Mart, AIG and Pfizer, if not you, who? If not now, when?”
Murray Hill Inc. plans on spending “top dollar” to protect its investment. “It’s our democracy,” Murray Hill Inc. says, “We bought it, we paid for it, and we’re going to keep it.”

Excuse Me Dear...

The Dust Bunnies have been complaining about the Dog again...

----------------------

A Proximity Collage

Red Herring Designation is a Smoke Screen

For those who claim that fears of foreign owned corporations interfering in US elections is a red herring in the wake of the recent granting of 1st Amendment rights to corporations by the Supreme Court, how about a quote from the Saudis?


RIYADH (Reuters) - United Nations climate talks are a bigger threat to top oil exporter Saudi Arabia than increased oil supplies from rival producers, its lead climate negotiator said on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia's economy depends on oil exports so stands to be one of the biggest losers in any pact that curbs oil demand by penalizing carbon emissions.
"It's one of the biggest threats that we are facing," said Muhammed al-Sabban, head of the Saudi delegation to U.N. talks on climate change and a senior economic adviser to the Saudi oil ministry.
"We are worried about future demand ... oil is being singled out. We are heavily dependent on one commodity."
Saudi depends on oil income for nearly 90 percent of state revenue and exports make up 60 percent of its gross domestic product.
Rival producers such as Iraq and Brazil have plans for significant increases in output, with Baghdad agreeing deals that could raise its capacity to around 12 million barrels per day and threaten Saudi market dominance. The kingdom has a production capacity of 12.5 million barrels per day.
Climate talks posed a bigger threat, Sabban said, and subsidies for the development of renewable energy were distorting market economics in the sector, he said.

The SCOTUS decision makes no distinction between domestic and foreign owned or operated corporations. They all get to spend as much as they want. So the Saudis can and will lobby and campaign hard to stop any alternative energy legislation.
Politicians who are in favor of US energy Independence should expect Saudi financed attacks.
And even if a US politician genuinely holds a position that is being endorsed by a big corporation, he or she will be perceived has having been paid off, causing further erosion of the public's confidence in elected officials.

The only good that can come out of this is if, against all odds and expectations, Congress passes new restrictions on corporate charters that will limit direct influence and stand up to any court challenges int he face of the SCOTUS decision.

The mess that is my office

They are doing construction on my floor, right outside my office door.
Hoping they will be done soon...

Howard Zinn Dies...

Howard Zinn, author of A Peoples' History of the United States, has died at age 87.

As he wrote in his autobiography, "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train" (1994), "From the start, my teaching was infused with my own history. I would try to be fair to other points of view, but I wanted more than 'objectivity'; I wanted students to leave my classes not just better informed, but more prepared to relinquish the safety of silence, more prepared to speak up, to act against injustice wherever they saw it. This, of course, was a recipe for trouble."

He caused trouble, always in good causes. His work should be required reading. He will be missed.

I could put a hundred pages of profound quotes from his work here, but I will just put up just one more:

"This is a country dedicated to historical amnesia. Our radical past holds dangers for both those in power and those threatened by progressive change. We need to rescue the great battles for social justice from becoming either co-opted or simply erased from the history books. Our children don't learn about the people who made the Civil Rights Movement. Instead we get Dr. Martin Luther King on a McDonald's commemorative cup. Because of our country's organized ignorance, endless hours are wasted in every generation reinventing the wheel and relearning lessons already taught." -- Howard Zinn

Inside

What Not To Wear

So why is it that even blind superheros worry about how they look in public?

Run, Forest. Run.

Weird week. Lots of work. No time to blog.
But I think after the Supreme Court's historical fuck up--I mean
"decision"--on corporate campaign spending that I should speak out
with my puny, human right to free speach before Google decides to
drown me out. So here is my reaction to the court's edict that
corporations have 1st Amendment rights and that dollars spent equal
free speach: WHAT?????? Are they fucking kidding?
Corporations are not people. Corporations don't even have to be US
citizens. So now Hugo Chaves' Citco can spend as much money as it
wants to influence American politics? That makes no Constitutional
sense. Dow Chemical is a Pinnochio that does not deserve to be a real
boy. But the Supreme Court just played Blue Fairy and granted their
wish. US politics was already corrodid by corporate money. Now we can
look forward to full fledged corrosion.

I am 100% sure we cannot predict all the horrible ways this will screw
up our politics, government, laws, environment, society, and lives.

Oh some good news. Goldman Sachs had record profits, again. Pinnochio
will be so pleased.

Move over Peter Max

This iPhone ap, PhotoTropedelic, makes your photos into pop art.
Pretty cool.

La Conner for dinner

And the view.
And the good company.
Cheers.

Celebrating Dangerous Things

Brilliant book on the advantages of trying and surviving dangerous activities.

http://fiftydangerousthings.com/

But not just accidentally, or randomly. With some dedicated observation and the ability to learn from experience.

And if that is not enough, here is a video that asks: Is the Internet Making us Dumber?

From TVO: http://www.youtube.com/user/tvochannel#p/u/0/6TW9HGuWMJo

With a nod to Boing Boing for pointing me there first...love those guys.

Pat Robertson and God’s Curse

Pat Robertson, according to his own logic, must be a curse inflicted on America because our ancestors overthrew the British in an ungodly revolt in the 1770’s.

Sorry, Just had to put that out there.
If you are lucky enough not to have heard his disgusting theories on why Haiti had a major earthquake, then you should keep it that way. Once you get garbage like that in your head it is hard to clear it out again.
But Pat seems to believe that a whole nation should be punished for the alleged sins of their ancient ancestors. That is some mean, small-minded, vengeful thinking. Jesus proscribed very different attitudes and actions toward the poor and downtrodden that those espoused by the “Reverend” Robertson.

Tea Time Constrictor

There is nothing more disconcerting than losing one's handgun on the tracks of the Bangalore Express while simultaneously fighting off the unwanted and unwarranted attacks of a mighty constrictor snake and a man-eating tiger. My boots were all scuffed, and my shirt was all retched with blood and tiger musk. Especially when one just wants a sit down and a passable cup of Earl Grey at this time of the afternoon.

Double Up

So which is cooler?

YouTube Doubler

or

Universal Music Videos

(You gotta click the links before you can vote...Sorry but that's the rules.)

Minneapolis airport sunset

Beautiful sunset.
Going home, even better.
Jay

Goodbye Minn

Goodbye zero degree weather.
Lucky for me the business climate was much warmer inside the trade show.
Jay. From the iPhone.

We Have a Plan

A plan to get out of Minneapolis.
Last meetings this morning. Then flight home tonight.

Big Wheel

Had dinner at Bubba Gumps. They play Forest Gump on the Tvs all the
time. But the food was good.
Tradeshow all day tomorrow.

Don't tell Chani there is a huge LEGO store here.

Mall of America

OK Steve, you win--Mall of America is pretty cool. It is definetly
huge and it has an amusement park with roller coasters in the middle
of it. And an aquarium underneath.
Other than that it is just every mall you have ever been to. No, I
mean it is every mall in one giant space. Every mall store is here.
But not many unique things. Even the amusement park is just a smaller
version of Nickelodeon parks.
There is a big old Ikea store across the street, and it looks small
next to MOA. So I guess that is something if you can make Ikea look
small.

Jay-- on the iPhone at MOA.

Arctic sunrise

7 below zero. Brrrrrrrrr

My dinner companion

Made it to Minneapolis. 10 degrees outside. Warm and noisy at TGI
Fridays. Cheers.

Ready to Fly

Getting ready to fly to Minneapolis, where the expected low temperature on Friday is -14 degrees. Oh, the things we will do for commerce.
I hear Minneapolis is the home of the Mall of America, the biggest mall in, you guessed it, America. Not sure I will have time to go see it, or if I really want to.
With temperatures like that, I may never leave the hotel.
Jay

Back from the World--Back to the World

I spent a relaxing and enjoyable winter break with my wife an kids, who are growing up fast, but will always be my kids. We celebrated Solstice, Christmas and New Years.
But mostly we sat around a table with some books, some pens and paper and way too many dice playing D&D.
We started a new campaign with new characters in a new world—always the most exciting part of D&D because in the beginning anything is possible and the story can go anywhere. We decided to be Private Inquisitors, PI’s, in a big city with a grimy underbelly where nothing is what it seems to be. That meant I had to start coming up with mysteries to solve and clues to follow, villains to chase and be chased by, unexpected friends and allies. And the girls had to discover who their characters are and what they want them to become.
We had a great time, exploring together, creating a new world together.
But now the calendar has turned a page and we must leave our fantasy world and return to the work and school world. We like our “real lives” but it is also nice knowing that our “fantasy” world will be waiting for us to visit again some weekend, hopefully not too far in the future.

We will see what the world of 2010 has to throw at us….
Jay
--------------------------------------
Echoes: I used to have that picture on my wall as a kid. I suppose Jung or Freud would have a thing or two to say about that. It was one of many pictures taped up next to my Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Bruce Lee posters. It is by Patrick Woodroffe. I liked the dual nature of it and the fact that you could turn it upside down.